SEASON 20 / EPISODE 367
The Mailbag - Legendary Lives & Stories
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IN THIS CONVERSATION
The story behind the story.
Gianni and host Jeanie read listener mailbag questions on the Hollywood Godfather podcast. Russo says a major company wants to adapt his three books—The Hollywood Godfather, The Sixth Family, and Mafia Secrets—into three $50 million feature films over the next three years. He says he was not in Hollywood during Charles Manson’s time, credits engineer Mike Austin for creating the podcast intro music with AI, and describes carrying a shortened hickory cane with a gold-plated skull as a weapon for protection in New York. Russo discusses meeting podcast guest Miles Stevenson through their network, doing fan conventions where proceeds support his education charity Gianni Believes You Can, and planning upcoming dinner shows possibly at Paladino’s in Grand Central. He recounts his restaurant career in Las Vegas, including State Street opened by Sinatra and the Rat Pack, and addresses AI likeness protections and changes hurting Las Vegas tourism.
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Transcript source
The publisher supplies an automated transcript. It has not been editorially reviewed and may contain errors in names, dates or dialogue.
Open publisher transcript (text/vtt) ↗
LAS VEGAS · THE RESTAURANT YEARS
State St.His own corner of Las Vegas.
Gianni’s Las Vegas story includes a place with his name on the menu: Gianni Russo’s State St. UNLV’s Special Collections preserves a menu from the 1980s, a tangible piece of that chapter. On the show, Gianni tells how he built the restaurant and recalls the late nights and personalities that passed through its doors.
From the archive: UNLV State St. menu ↗
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